Empowering Sports Fans With Technology

September 2004

My 24-year-old Bob Gibson signature Rawlings baseball mitt has stiffened into a crusty but immediately comfortable shape after spending untold years on my dad's garage shelf. Slipping my hand into the glove and giving the webbing a few good punches reminds me why I'm doing what I'm doing today.

Between the ages of 7 and 15, I spent just about every summer evening in our garage while my dad worked on his cars. I sat on the concrete steps leading into the house and listened to Jack Buck do play-by-play for the St. Louis Cardinals on KMOX radio. I loved baseball, plain and simple.

Actually, I loved all sports. I dreamed about hitting a ninth-inning, walk-off home run, throwing a game-winning Hail Mary touchdown pass, or slapping a hockey puck past the goalie at the final buzzer. I was never great at sports, but I always wanted to be part of the game. So I figured out a way into the pros—through technology.

TRADITION VERSUS TECHNOLOGY

There is a natural resistance to change in sports. Respect for the purity of the game combined with fan nostalgia creates a huge hurdle for cutting-edge ideas.

In 1921, Major League Baseball found the perfect way to reach a larger audience: radio. Purists thought this would doom the game, but it exposed a new generation of fans to some of the century's greatest plays. Radio elevated baseball to its national pastime status and players into celebrities.

Professional baseball, football, hockey, and basketball games were first televised in 1939 and 1940. Traditionalists again declared the beginning of the end for attendance at games, but everyone now recognizes that TV fuels pro sports and creates more fans worldwide.

Technology continues to play a major role in sports. Innovative camera angles, high-resolution slow-motion replays, and computer-generated graphics are now an integral part of TV broadcasts. Most sports venues feature giant video screens, active matrix scoreboards, and other high-tech enhancements.

TV networks now invite viewers to go online while watching games. Audiences can become part of the programming with their reactions dictating content through surveys, contests, and other challenges. Spectators can also participate in live, interactive events on game day.

In addition, newer stadiums are incorporating wireless infrastructures to allow for future technology. In April 2004, the San Francisco Giants baseball franchise, in cooperation with telecom giant SBC Communications, created a Wi-Fi “bubble” covering the new SBC Park that gives a few hundred fans the opportunity to browse the Internet on their own laptops and handhelds. Of course, purists are once again wringing their hands.

SKYBOX
I have always been intrigued by the combination of sports and technology, and in 2002, along with a team of likeminded sports techno-fans, formed Vivid Sky. We wanted to explore ways to enhance our experience of attending live sporting events while still honoring tradition.

For the past two years, we have been developing the SkyBOX system, which integrates emerging Wi-Fi and on-demand technologies with the Internet. Fans attending a game can tap in to a wireless network from anywhere in the stadium using a handheld device that, among other things, will let them The SkyBOX system will replay it as often as you like from any camera located in the stadium. Hungry for nachos and a beer but don't want to stand in line? The system will let you place a cashless order directly from your seat and have it delivered to you.

Handheld device
Because most fans either don't currently own a handheld device capable of receiving and displaying the content that we supply or, if they do, don't want to risk damaging it, we provide a rugged device for rental at games. It utilizes a Pocket PC operating system, is Wi-Fi enabled, and will operate for more than 10 hours on a single charge. The thin, lightweight device can be comfortably worn around the neck on a lanyard, is impervious to moisture and impact resistant, and has a durable LCD touch screen that works well in direct sunlight.

Wireless network
The SkyBOX system's backbone is the wireless infrastructure, which is built on an IEEE 802.11x platform and delivers a wide range of content including multimedia. As technology evolves, we plan to upgrade to better platforms and bigger pipelines. Our ultimate goal is to create an in-stadium wireless network that can support any Wi-Fi-enabled mobile device.

User interface
The simple SkyBOX user interface lets fans easily navigate through streaming video, real-time statistical databases, graphical displays, and sponsor content without becoming overwhelmed. It utilizes the interactive and flexible Macromedia Flash technology, which can accommodate visual designs comparable to TV and online sports programming. It also converts content, including large video files, into extremely small file sizes, which is essential for limited-bandwidth systems.

Middleware/software
Our programmers use a combination of off-the-shelf and custom applications to connect the user interface with various back-end systems. The first-generation SkyBOX system accesses two forms of visual content—encoded streaming video and real-time stats and graphics—supplied by a limited number of sources and third-party partners. This process is highly automated and can be managed by a small team of in-stadium employees.

Custom software encodes, encrypts, and streams on-demand video feeds. It also pushes real-time content, stats, and info graphics, and securely transacts and fulfills online concession and merchandise orders. The SkyBOX system is efficient, scalable, reliable, and redundant. The code and components are in a modular, reusable format, while the content is easily configured through administrative screens.

A PROMISING FUTURE
In trying to transform our cutting-edge vision into reality, we have encountered many of the same funding problems other high-tech startups face today. The burst of the dot-com bubble and subsequent recession have made investors skittish. In addition, many potential investors have a poor grasp of the value of technology and gravitate toward less risky real-estate, construction, and manufacturing projects.

Nevertheless, we persevere because we believe that the SkyBOX system is a product whose time has come. It took years for the general population to purchase TVs, cell phones, and PDAs, but technology adoption faces a shorter timeline with each generation. As DVD and MP3 players illustrate, the right technology can find its legs quickly.

Professional sports such as baseball, football, basketball, and hockey typically attract spectators in their twenties and thirties. According to the Entertainment Software Association, the average video gamer is now 29 (www.theesa.com/pressroom.html). Fans accustomed to virtual camera angles and on-demand instant replays on their Xbox or PlayStation 2 will seek a more interactive role at live events. Rapid technological advances— faster processors, lighter devices, longer battery lives, improved displays, larger hard drives, and wider bandwidth—are making it easier to meet that demand.

In the US, new consumer technologies typically gain a foothold on the East and West coasts and in a few large Midwestern cities. We hope to capitalize on that trend by initially focusing on those regions. Although we have no illusions of converting every sports fan, we believe the SkyBOX system has features that will appeal to even the most hardened traditionalist.

Nothing will ever replace the visceral thrill of going to a game and hearing the crowd roar during a dash to the end zone or a throw to home plate. However, as technology evolves, sports fans will seek new ways to enhance this experience. I believe that the SkyBOX system meets this challenge. In the meantime, I'll keep my old glove handy and reminisce about the days in the garage with my dad under the hood and Jack Buck calling the game.



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